Every year around this time, music writers like to participate in the numerical masturbation ritual known as year-end lists. (Stay tuned for ours!) This is always followed by the even lamer ritual of endless bickering over said year-end lists. Then someone will inevitably stir up the pot by pointing out that not enough female musicians were included. And while I have about as much interest in getting involved in a heated argument about gender equality in music as I do in watching a single episode of either Entourage or Sex and the City, I do want to take a minute to point out that the ladies of rock totally crushed it this year. Just absolutely slaughtered the dudes, musically.
Now, before you take to Twitter to call me a sexist epic fail retard or whatever (I’m @danozzi, by the way, in case you want to do that later), I’m not saying that men didn’t also have a strong showing. They did. (See the new albums by Radioactivity, Iron Chic, Off With Their Heads, etc. etc.) And I’m not saying that women haven’t put out good albums in previous years. (Does that even need to be said?) I’m just saying that 2013, as a whole, was possibly the best year ladies have had in punk in a long, long time. What’s been particularly impressive is the genre range women have covered, proving that female punk is not relegated to riot grrrl bands. Nothing against riot grrrl bands. I’m on board with any movement that deliberately spells its name wrong (except for the Ku Klux Klan, obvz). But really, women have covered the bases this year, from folk punk, to pop punk, to hardcore, to the more indie rock side of punk.
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Here is a random list of women who I thought kicked a particularly large amount of ass this year. You may be saying, “But you forgot bands like Waxatchee and Cayetana and Screaming Females and Lemuria and Perfect Pussy” and whatever other female-fronted bands you’ve been jamming out to over the last 12 months. Sure, if that’s what you’re into, you can include them on your lists. This one is mine. And it serves no purpose other than to say: Thanks for the good tunes, ladies. Keep ’em coming.
Frances Quinlan, Hop Along
one song in 2013
Lauren Measure, Worriers
neverLaura Stevenson
WheelJenny Owen Youngs
coming out as gayAllison Crutchfield, Swearin’
Anika Pyle, Chumped
Chumped’s debut EPLou Hanman, Caves
Laura Jane Grace, Against Me!
True TransKathleen Stubelek, Circle Takes the Square
Miley Cyrus
Yeah, I said it. Dan Ozzi is the contributing editor of Noisey and would like to take this opportunity to propose to Frances Quinlan’s voice. Follow him on Twitter – @danozziMore
From VICE
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Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Judas Iscariot, and some fourth wheel at the Last Supper (All photos by Paige Taylor White) -
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Collage by VICE -
The National World War I Museum and Memorial
